Cheryl Linn Glass (She/Her)

by Alison Escobar (She/Her)

Cheryl Linn Glass was a race car driver, a trailblazer and an activist. She was ahead of her time, determined to accomplish her lifelong dream of competing in the Indy 500 race.

Cheryl Linn Glass was born on December 24th, 1961 in California before moving to Washington State and starting her racing career. From a young age Glass was determined to be the best, she started driving go-carts at the age of nine. “My parents put me in many activities and encouraged me to pick what I wanted to do. They told me I could do anything and never let anybody stop me,” said Glass in 1983. She excelled as a young driver, even earning the title “Rookie of the year” awarded to the best new driver. From such a young age she was breaking barriers and records. Glass would often be the only woman and African American driver competing. She later became both a state and regional champion, officially earning her spot in history books.

Before becoming a professional race car driver, Cheryl Glass graduated highschool in 1978 at only 16 years old. She attended the University of Washington as a pre-med student, eventually switching to engineering. Glass would even appear on television to talk about her life as a race car driver, artist, and college student.These appearances helped her earn the money she needed to pay fees and purchase gear to be able to turn professional at the age of 18 in 1980.

With no team hiring new drivers, especially women drivers, Glass and her father Marvin Glass formed their own team, the “Glass Racing Team.” It was one of the only Black-owned professional racing teams in the nation at that time. Alongside being the driver, she also occupied the role of President with her father working as vice president, general manager and self taught mechanic. They hired Richard Allen Lindwall who worked as crew chief and head mechanic. She won title after title in search of her way to complete her goal of racing in the Indy 500.

In June of 1987, Glass attended the annual Candace Awards. She was honored as a trailblazer, being the only professional African American woman race-car driver in the country. In 1990, Glass entered the “CART American Racing Series” Indy Lights, a step below IndyCar. Excelling as always, she finished seventh place at the Nazareth Speedway in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Sadly, in the last race of the year she failed to qualify at the Laguna Seca Raceway in California. Her racing career unfortunately came to an end with an accident in 1991 at the Phoenix International Raceway.

As the only professional Black-woman race car driver, this came with both success and sadly, an excessive amount of harassment. Throughout the next several years, Glass reported several problems with neighbors and police brutality. She was also a victim of sexual assault stemming from the various home break ins she was exposed to. She was failed by those vowing to protect her. With nothing being done to bring justice to these hate crimes committed, Glass took a step back from mainstream appearances and started engaging in activism against injustices committed towards minority communities.

Cheryl Linn Glass was a trailblazer, an activist, and an overall brilliant person. Her untimely death on July 15th, 1997, marked the end of her achievements. Although she never accomplished her goal, she has left her mark on the world.